Assistive mixing system and method of assembling a synchronised spatial sound stage

Abstract

Intensifying contextually relevant sound events for time-delayed broadcast uses multiple directional microphones that capture sound events from a specific location within regions of a stadium. The events are contextually relevant to the environment, such as a referee's whistle sound. A processor executes signal processing of the captured events on each channel to produce audio samples each having a signal profile. The profiles are automatically compared to reference feature templates stored in a database, correspond to pre-identified sound events of contextual relevance. The signal processing accentuates characteristic traits in the events, reflective of contextually relevant events that should be included in a final composite audio output for transmission. If the comparison of samples to the feature templates suggests a high probability of a correspondence, then buffered audio for that channel is introduced into a final audio mix.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A mixing system comprising:
 a multiplicity of microphones, each of said microphones assigned to a channel and configured to capture real-time sound events within a coverage region for that microphone; 
 a buffer for storing captured sound events from each microphone; 
 a memory storing at least one reference feature template indicative of a predetermined desired sound event; 
 a processor configured to execute a control algorithm that: 
 processes captured real-time sound events for each channel into samples having signal characteristics; 
 for each channel, compares the signal characteristics in each sample with said at least one reference feature template to identify whether said captured real-time sound event has signal characteristics substantially corresponding to the at least one reference feature template; and 
 in the event that the comparison indicates that correlation exists between the desired sound event and the captured real-time sound event for the channel, generating a final audio mix that includes a substitute output for the captured real-time sound event. 
 
     
     
       2. The mixing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the control algorithm is configured automatically to restrict an audio contribution of each channel to the final audio mix when correlation is assessed not to exist between the desired sound event and any captured real-time sound event for that channel. 
     
     
       3. The mixing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the control algorithm is configured to place a desired sound event, identified as present within a channel, spatially relative to other sound events within the final audio mix. 
     
     
       4. The mixing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the substitute audio output is selected from the group consisting of:
 a predetermined sound; 
 a different audio track. 
 
     
     
       5. The mixing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the final audio mix is synchronized with a video recording. 
     
     
       6. The mixing system according to  claim 5 , wherein the control algorithm is configured to insert a message into the final audio output or the video recording when correlation exists between the desired sound event and the captured real-time sound event. 
     
     
       7. The mixing system according to  claim 6 , wherein the message is obtained from an advertising database accessed by the processor, the message containing at least some audio content. 
     
     
       8. The mixing system according to  claim 1 , wherein captured real-time sound events in the time domain are converted into a frequency domain representation. 
     
     
       9. The mixing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the sound event is at least one of:
 a word; 
 a phrase; 
 the sound generated by one thing striking another thing; 
 a sound from a musical instrument; 
 a sound for an alternate audio source; and a warning sound. 
 
     
     
       10. The mixing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the control algorithm processes captured real-time sound events for each channel into a plurality of samples for each captured real-time sound event, each of the plurality of samples providing a different assessment criteria for the same captured real-time sound event. 
     
     
       11. A method of assembling a time synchronized sound stage for broadcast, the method comprising:
 capturing real-time sound events at a multiplicity of microphones, each of said microphones assigned to a channel and a coverage region; 
 buffering captured sound events from each microphone; 
 signal processing captured real-time sound events for each channel into samples having signal characteristics; 
 for each channel, comparing the signal characteristics in each sample with at least one reference feature template to identify whether said captured real-time sound event has signal characteristics substantially corresponding to said at least one reference feature, each reference feature template indicative of a predetermined desired sound event; 
 in the event that the comparison indicates that correlation exists between the desired sound event and the captured real-time sound event for the channel, generating a final audio mix that includes: 
 a substitute audio output for the captured real-time sound event. 
 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 automatically restricting an audio contribution of each channel to the final audio mix when correlation is assessed not to exist between the desired sound event and any captured real-time sound event for that channel. 
 
     
     
       13. The method  claim 11 , further comprising:
 placing a desired sound event, identified as present within a channel, spatially relative to other sound events within the final audio mix. 
 
     
     
       14. The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the substitute audio output is selected from the group consisting of:
 a predetermined sound; 
 a different audio track. 
 
     
     
       15. The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the final audio mix is synchronized with a video recording. 
     
     
       16. The method according to  claim 15 , further comprising:
 inserting a message into the final audio output or the video recording when correlation exists between the desired sound event and the captured real-time sound event. 
 
     
     
       17. The method according to  claim 11  further comprising:
 Fourier transforming time domain captured real-time sound events into frequency domain representations. 
 
     
     
       18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon code that, when executed by a processor, performs audio mixing functions according to  claim 11 .